Guild Wars 2 Devs Aiming For the Top

As various MMOs have been released over the past several years, their developers have been wary about the inevitable measuring against World of Warcraft, often saying that "second-best" is more than good enough for them. Not so for ArenaNet as they work on Guild Wars 2; they're aiming right for the top. And according to a detailed preview now up at Eurogamer, their effort is paying off : "Two huge and risky decisions have been made in its design: junking the 'holy trinity' of character class roles (protective 'tank', damage-dealer and healer) and doing away with the quest-style architecture for game content. Yet, in moment-to-moment play, Guild Wars 2 looks and feels instantly and reassuringly like a fantasy MMORPG – just a noticeably fresh one. It's a question of flow. Combat is still hotkey-based, but faster and smoother and more streamlined, involving more movement and positioning. The levelling curve is now an almost flat line, replacing the epic ascent with a steady journey where content, not advancement, is king."

Comments

Re:Damn!

[SharpFang]

It is doable,
epic missions - battles involving hundreds of players,
massive events (enemy assault on a town, siege progressing day by day),
timed progress of situation as players complete their tasks,
stalemate situations that need heavy power to throw them off balance
important positions relatively easy to take over but difficult to hold, so they continuously change ownership
significant guilds shaping the politics, economy, influencing the world,
VERY difficult missions which would be attempted and failed over and over until someone succeeds and the result is permanent,
construction of massive structures progressing by tiny phases, so your contribution is permanent ("I built THIS door of the castle"),
active environmental engineering (channels, lakes, dams) controlled from well defendable positions you can take over then hold or protect with traps,
portable structures that can be built anywhere by consolidated effort of a moderately sized group ("let's build a fortified checkpoint HERE.")
Instantiated personal space (a room in a hotel or a house) so that every player has a fully customizable personal area without cutting into the massive bulk,
expensive, prestigeous public locations for rent/sale and personalized use. ...want more ideas?

Re:Damn!

[tsm_sf]

Here you go.